What Phoenix Needs: A Funky Doughnut Shop

Given the cultural similarities between Phoenix and L.A., it's surprising that the Valley of the Sun isn't already smothered in doughnuts.

In La La Land, it seems like there's a doughnut shop on every corner, in every strip mall, in neighborhoods both hip and low-rent. How that city manages to sustain such a high level of fried dough consumption and still have such a huge population of good-looking model and actor types is beyond me -- are all the writers holed up at home doing the eating? Perhaps. I know I'd join them.

And what of those funky doughnut shops around the country that I keep reading about, the Voodoo Doughnuts of the world? The snack shop sneaks into every food TV show that hits up its hometown of Portland, Oregon, and by now I feel starved for a jelly-filled "Voodoo Doll", a bacon maple bar, or a doughnut topped with Froot Loops.

Meanwhile, Atlanta's Sublime Doughnuts makes letter-shaped doughnuts so you can spell out greetings like "happy birthday." Not to mention, they have chocolate-banana fritters served "Elvis-style" (I'm intrigued -- aren't you?) and chocolate ganache beignets with drunken cherries. And New York's Doughnut Plant does a creme brulee doughnut, complete with crunchy glaze and custard filling.

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